Obsession
by Gamecrazy 25
Summary: She was the girl who haunted his sleep, crying bitter tears and wounded by an unknown figure. He would do anything to save her... anything. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize what's happening to him in the process...
1. It's Beginning

Obsession

Summary: She was the girl who haunted his sleep, crying bitter tears and wounded by an unknown figure. He would do anything to save her... anything. Sora x Namine with Riku x Kairi on the side PostKH1

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square-Enix does. I only own the plot and any original characters.

Author's Note: This is the first chapter, so it's kind of short. Hopefully I get some good reviews!

Chapter 1: It's Beginning

i He was blinded by white; white walls, white floors, white furniture. He didn't know where he was, but took a step further and his ocean eyes laid upon a lone figure in the otherwise empty room. It was a girl, but she seemed wrong; not like how he imagined she would be. But how could he make a decision on someone he had never met before?

The girl sat in an armless chair at a white table, fingers of her right hand curled around a short pencil, making graphite black lines on a blank page of sketchbook. Platinum blonde hair fell over her shoulder, and her face was shadowed by it. He couldn't see her eyes, but he could make out twin tear trails sliding down her pale cheeks. She wore a simple dress that matched the overall color of the room, a dazzling white. The left strap was torn; each piece hung limply like a dog's tongue on a hot day over the rest of the dress. The hem of it held a little design, an almost lace-like pattern. It stopped about halfway on her thighs and was close fitting, but not too tight. The girl's whitish blue strap sandals were underneath the table, not on her feet. He noticed her petite frame shaking with a mixture of emotional distress and fear, and he suddenly wanted to take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be alright, but he was too frightened to touch the girl he didn't know, as if he was afraid of her fragility.

He took a couple more steps, and his eyes fell upon more faults on her appearance. Her dress had a gash in the skirt, but it wasn't terrible enough to reveal anything. The girl's feet were scratched, as why she didn't have her shoes on. An ugly bruise was on her left shoulder, a purplish shade that was sickening to him. She sighed, almost a sob, and dropped her pencil on the sketchbook. It made little noise, and the girl smudged her dress with dust from the object. She stared at the drawing for a few moments, and then began to weep desperately, burying her face into her slender hands. Again, he was startled by how small she seemed in the gigantic room, how helpless.

He watched the girl cry, and she probably thought no one knew about how her life was, but he was struck with a question: how was he seeing this in the first place? He had no clue, but all he was aware of that he would save this girl, even though he didn't know or her name. He would do whatever it takes, but first, he had to find her.

The scene began to fade, and he was slowly pulled back by an invisible force. He voiced no complaints, and it's not like he had any. He was in complete darkness now, and sleep took him away, into a deeper depth. /i

"Sora, it's time to get up!" a feminine voice called from a seemingly far distance.

He groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head.

"Sora Hikari!" shouted the now angry female, snatching the sheets away from the sleeping boy. "Get yourself out of bed! I know it's the weekend, but it's eleven o' clock! Mom says your breakfast's getting cold!"

Sora rubbed his eyes and winced as his older sister flung back the curtains in his room, sun rays flooding into his vision. He swung himself into a sitting position and stretched his arms, yawning. He glanced at the clock, and it surely was eleven o' clock. That's what he got for staying up late last night.

Sora's sister was a seventeen year old young woman with chocolate brown hair flowing down to her back and they shared the same cerulean eyes. She was dressed in her usual loose fitting tan dress with darker squares on the sleeve cuffs, waist, and the end. Her paopu charm bracelet that she always wore for years was encircling her right wrist, orange yarn woven in small circles and wooden paopus attached to it. For some reason, Sora's mother had named her after the island, Destiny, but most of the time he called her Des.

Destiny hustled around his room, booting him in his still drowsy state off the bed so she could make it. Sora was woken up the rest of the way when he fell flat on his face on the floor. Destiny was occupied with fixing his sheets, so she didn't notice. Sora got to his feet and went over to his closet to get dressed.

The outfit he pulled out was a common sight; a sleeveless red jumper with fluffed out shorts and blue belt with a chain of tiny silver crowns on it. A black jacket with short white sleeves, yellow boots with the tops slightly turned up, and a silver necklace with another crown on it completed the rest of his clothes, and Sora took the garments in his arms and headed to the bathroom. The crimson pajamas he had worn to bed were carelessly tossed in the hamper as he dressed. Sora exited the bathroom and went down the stairs into the kitchen for his breakfast, which was probably cold. However, on the last step, he paused, as if waiting for something.

After he had woken up, the dream had been forgotten, but now it same back in a rush, fleeting images. The crying, hurt girl flashed in and out of his mind. A cruel laugh that certainly hadn't been present sent icy chills down his spine, and suddenly he couldn't move even if he wanted to. Sora shivered, waiting and wishing for it to go away, but it only increased in volume, sending him sprawling from the final step to the floor again. He just wanted to scream, but the laugh prevented him for doing anything. In the corner, he could have sworn a shadowed figure was standing there, but he blinked and it was gone.

As soon as it had come, the noise in his head was gone. Sora shakily got to his knees and wiped away sweat that had materialized on his forehead.

What was that dream he had? Sora was almost afraid to know, but he shook it off and walked into the kitchen for the food he wasn't hungry for anymore.

A lady who still had a youthful look even though she was in her mid thirties glanced up at Sora from her cup of coffee as he entered. Her dark brown hair, the same shade as her children's, was in a loose, thin ponytail with the rest of her hair hung down her shoulders in two separate segments. Her yellow dress was patched in places since it was her favorite, and back when Sora was a toddler, Destiny before that, and Toki preceding both of them, it had been torn accidentally by small hands clutching the skirt. A white apron was tied over that, and it was fairly new. A simple pair of house slippers was on her feet. Sora's mother seemed still half asleep.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." greeted Julia Hikari with as much cheer as possible. She gestured towards the plate of cold eggs and toast. "Do you want me to warm up your breakfast?"

Sora shook his head. If he had been in a good mood, it would've deflated at the sound of the evil laugh. Even though he wasn't hungry, he sat at the table anyway to talk with his mom. Poor Julia, her husband leaving her shortly after Sora had been born, and also leaving her with a three year old Destiny and fourteen year old Toki. And to a single mother, it wasn't that helpful when seven years later after the day her husband left that Toki, who had been twenty-one at the time, was mysteriously killed. Sora could hardly recall his older brother, and sometimes he talked to a picture of him by the door to feel like he had a connection with Toki. It was clear that Julia had been extremely upset at Toki's death, and she still missed her son.

"Oh, by the way," Julia began, sipping her coffee and making Sora look up. "Riku and Kairi called for you earlier while you were still sleeping. I think they said they were going to the beach."

"Thanks, Mom. I'll go hang out with them," said Sora, trying a smile. He got up from the table and got the door. "Bye, Mom and Toki," The last person in question was glanced at by blue eyes, and Sora left his house for the beach.

Time to go see Riku and Kairi, the couple.


	2. Jumping to Conclusions

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Square-Enix does. I only own the plot and any original characters.

Author's Note: In the last chapter, I miscalculated on Julia's age. She should be in her forties, so excuse my typo. I hope this story goes well!

Chapter 2: Jumping to Conclusions

It was sunny at Destiny Islands, just like any normal day. The sky was a bright blue, and fluffy clouds floated lazily across the cerulean canvas. Waves lapped against the sandy shore, washing away footprints that were left by people, dogs, and the occasional seagull hoping to find a sandwich crumb or something.

Sora was glad for the serenity of the islands, since the adventure he had embarked on in what seemed so long ago had been filled with peril and fighting, not a calm moment. The journey he had got swept up in confirmed him as the Keyblade Master, the hero who would restore light to the worlds by wielding a key-shaped weapon called the Keyblade. The weapon was at Sora's disposal to use at any time, but since his adventure was over, it wasn't needed. However, if a time came where he would have to go from the islands to save the worlds again, he would have to use the Keyblade. Sora was hoping that it wouldn't come, even though a part of him wished to see the friends he had met on his travels, such as Donald--a spell casting duck--and Goofy--a clumsy dog knight. Others included his companions at Traverse Town, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid, and people he'd helped in the various worlds.

After Sora had sealed the door to darkness, Riku and King Mickey staying inside to close the door, he, Donald, and Goofy had gone on a quest to save their two comrades. It had been successful, and Sora's two friends had left with the King for Disney Castle, while he and Riku came back home. Kairi had been especially glad to see them, being worried for her two best friends, and she embraced them, crying happily. Riku and Kairi had gotten together recently, and Sora was happy for the couple. He had known that Riku had liked for a while now, but he couldn't work up the courage to tell her. But it seemed that he had gathered the nerve to express his feelings just fine, and Kairi had liked him back.

The brown haired boy strolled along the beach, looking for any signs of the couple. He grinned mischievously when he thought of them kissing or something of the like while they were waiting for him. It would be embarrassing if he interrupted them of anything.

Finally, he spotted the silver haired young man and redheaded girl sitting together on the dock, Kairi leaning against Riku's shoulder, the two quiet. Sora figured that they were enjoying each other's company, how sweet. Riku wore his usual yellow sleeveless shirt that was close-fitting, baggy blue pants, and black boots. Kairi was dressed in a white tank top with a black one underneath, rose skirt with a belt fastened around it, and white slip-on sneakers. Her white stoned necklace hung around her neck and a gold band was on her right wrist.

Sora thought about the blonde girl for a few seconds before he shoved her out of his mind forcefully. He wanted to have a perfectly normal morning, and a mystery girl wasn't going to ruin it. But no matter how hard Sora tried to forget her for even a few seconds, she wouldn't leave. He thought he would get strange looks if anyone was paying attention to him, since he was muttering for her to go away and had a hand against his forehead as if he had a headache. At least he wasn't planning on moving from his spot on the sand anytime soon, or he might run into something.

"Please go away," Sora whispered, a little frustrated now. Every since he got up this morning, he hadn't felt happy once. First he was frightened and couldn't move, then sorrowful for hearing such a horrible laugh, and finally a little angry for something not leaving his mind. "Just go on, shoo."

The girl wouldn't, evading his commands that were rising in volume unintentionally. At last, Sora was reduced to almost yelling, "Just leave, please!"

His ears pricked up at a whisper near him. "I think we should help him out, Riku."

Sora opened his eyes and wasn't that surprised to find Riku and Kairi in front of him, holding hands. Riku had a confused look on his face while Kairi seemed concerned.

"Oh," he said, feeling embarrassed. "Hi."

"Hi..." Riku returned slowly. He cut to the chase by saying, "Sora, have you gone mental or something?"

Sora glanced at Kairi, who was sending a signal of _'You're not, are you?'_ in his direction.

He tried to smile, but it seemed so hard. "No, I'm perfectly fine."

The two didn't look convinced. Riku asked, "Are you sure? You were mumbling to yourself and you should know what that means for some people..."

"No, I'm really fine." Sora sighed. "Except..."

"Except what?" questioned Kairi, worry present in her features. "You don't seem like yourself at all today."

Sora wondered what he should say. Both of his friends were staring at him strangely, waiting for his answer. He could try to explain his dream, but he knew it wouldn't be that important to them. Sora sighed again; might as well just get it over with.

"Well, this morning I had a weird dream," Sora began, eyes on the sand as if it were interesting. "There was this blonde girl, and she was drawing on a sketch pad. She was crying and hurt. I didn't know what to do, but I want to save her."

Silence hung thickly in the air. Riku and Kairi just looked at him, blank expressions on their faces. Sora knew their reaction would be like this; it sort of pained him to see that deep down, they didn't really care.

"You don't believe me?" asked Sora sorrowfully. "I knew you wouldn't..." He clenched a fist. "Why did I even tell you my dream?"

Kairi replied after a pause, "Sora... she probably doesn't exist."

Sora gazed up quickly and glared at her, making her jump in surprise. "She does exist, Kairi! I _know_ it!" To his surprise, tears were forming in his eyes. "You've _got _to believe me!"

The red haired girl shook her head slowly and sniffed. She let go of Riku's hand and her boyfriend hugged her close, her sobbing into his shirt. Riku frowned and whispered comforting words into Kairi's ear.

Sora couldn't look at his friends anymore, so he swiftly turned around, absently wiping at tears that snuck out of his eyes. He glanced at the corner of his vision, and what he saw shocked him.

A man stood in the shadow of a rock wall. He had his back turned to Sora, but he could see that the person wore a sweeping black robe with dark purple lining the hem and sleeve cuffs. An ebony helmet was over a sheet of long, lavender hair that nearly touched the ground. Thin silver protrusions stuck out in two groups of three on each side of the helmet. The man gradually turned around, hair swinging behind him, and caught Sora's gaze. The helmet covered his eyes from view, and only a strip of shadow was present along where his eyes should be. His skin was fair, and his features nothing special besides a nose and mouth.

The man smiled and waved at Sora as if he was a good friend. The emotional boy was swept in a wave of sudden fear and he took that time to scream. He couldn't help it, and he was sure that the man was the same one who evilly laughed and scared him badly.

A hand settled down on Sora's shoulder after a few moments, causing him to jump in surprise and, if possible, scream harder.

"Sora! _Sora!_" He couldn't recognize the voice in his terror. "Sora, darn it, what the heck is wrong with you?"

Sora finally calmed down, heart pounding furiously in his chest. His breath came in short gasps, and his eyes were extremely wide. Riku was staring at him, a still shaken Kairi peering with red eyes at him with anger and worry, and the silver haired young man looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"Sora..." Riku began slowly, "What's going on with you today?"

Sora hastily pointed at the rock wall, voice overwhelmed by fear. "Th-there! Don't you see him?" His body was shivering all over, and he wasn't trying to control it.

Kairi glanced in the direction Sora's finger was facing and fresh tears sprung at her eyes. "Sora, there's no one there! You're... you're..." She broke out in sobs and buried her face into Riku's wet shirt again. "Going crazy!" she finished, clutching at her boyfriend like a life preserver.

"I'm not!" Sora protested, but he thought over what had happened since he woke up this morning. Maybe he was losing his marbles, but the girl was real. She had to be.

Riku suggested, "...I think you should spend some time alone without getting the two of us all worked up." All while he was talking, his eyes never left Sora's terrified, melancholy, and angry form.

Sora wasn't going to leave just yet. "Riku, Kairi, promise me something before I go work over my emotions."

"What?" Riku seemed impatient to leave the beach.

He glared at his friends, anger boiling through him again. "Don't ever, _ever_ tell me she doesn't exist. I know she's out there somewhere."

Riku shook his head. "We can't promise--"

Sora had enough of this. He fled down the beach, not glancing back once. He needed a place to think.

He didn't notice that the strange man was gone, however.

The blood red sun was sinking into the horizon now, but still Sora didn't feel any better. He was angry at Riku and Kairi for not believing him and thinking of him as nuts, sad that the blonde hair was out there weeping and he couldn't help, and frightened of the lavender haired man. The fear was of a lesser extent than the other two, though. Most of his feelings were anger for his friends.

Sora had gone to a cliff overlooking the islands, trying to sort out his thoughts. However, his efforts were futile since a triad of emotions was raging through his body, constantly setting to a different one of the three in a few seconds.

A part of him hoped that if he continued to have dreams of the girl, he would have at least some direction on where to find her. But Sora wouldn't talk about her to Riku and Kairi anymore, not after they clearly didn't think she existed. It was his secret, and not even his mom and Des would know.

Sora stood up and gazed at the pinkish water, which had changed to match the gradually darkening sky. Maybe a good night's sleep and a dream would help him sort through this.

The only thing he was sure of now was that he couldn't trust his two best friends anymore, not with his business.


	3. Meeting a Mystery

Author's Note: One of my readers stated that Kairi acted like a pathetic crybaby, but she only got upset because Sora was scaring her. I just wanted to clear that up. And also, you might see a change in how the characters act, but it's not too out of character.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. I only own the plot and any original characters.

Chapter 3: Meeting a Mystery

_He was here again, standing in the white room. The blonde girl appeared to be no different than last time; maybe it's because the situation is like a paused movie resumed at later time. This dream takes place not even a second later after the first ended._

_The girl was still crying, but as he listened, it became softer and she finally looked up from her hands. He could see her eyes now, a shade of gray blue reddened by her sobbing. She sighed quietly and wiped away her tears. He caught a glance of her sketchpad, and a man with a black helmet and lavender hair was slowly taking shape._

_...Wait a second._

_Hadn't he seen that man before?_

_He shockingly realized that it was the same man that had frightened him so much that he had screamed. He had no clue who the man was, but he was sure that the man was extremely dangerous. The girl stared silently at the picture before closing the pad with sudden hatred, as if the likeness of the mysterious man caused her to rile up in disgust. He felt almost the same as she did, but most of it was fear._

_The girl sighed again, getting up from the chair. She stood still for a few seconds, brushing blonde hair out of her face to place it behind her ears, and headed towards a door, he supposed. Then he realized that he was standing near a door, right next to it as a matter of fact._

_The girl continued to walk ahead, and he grew a bit nervous as to how he was portrayed in her life. He was half-expecting her just to pass through him, like a ghost, or, absurdly, for her to actually notice him, but neither were true when she just skirted around him like avoiding a ladder to prevent walking under it. He decided that he had a presence here in the white room, although he wasn't seen here._

_He followed the girl down the hallway, and she entered a door on the left. He noticed that she stepped gingerly on the floor, and she was still shoeless. Those scratches on her feet must be worse than they looked. She left it open, and he peeked inside to see it was a bathroom._

_The bathroom was rather plain, with more white on the floors, walls, and even the rugs. The mirror on the cabinet looked extremely out of place in a place with no color of any kind; even she stood out, and he supposed he did too if he could be seen. The girl opened a cabinet and scanned the shelves for something; probably some antibacterial stuff. She took a bottle of it off the shelf and closed the toilet lid before sitting on it. She popped open the top and raised her right foot, dabbing a bit of the liquid onto a scratch. The girl hissed and squeezed her eyes shut while applying it to her cuts, and he held sympathy for her to be going through this._

_As she took care of her feet, he tore his eyes away from her and glanced down the hall. It was deathly quiet, he suddenly noticed, and not to mention if he thought about it really hard, the place didn't feel... real. He knew it couldn't be an illusion, because if it was, then it was likely that the girl was too. He wouldn't believe that she was just an image; he just couldn't. She had to exist, and he would find her, but meanwhile, the girl seemed finished with cleaning her scratches. She stood up from the toilet lid and put away the antibacterial liquid and headed back to her room. He figured that she was putting herself together, although she would get hurt again, but maybe it gave her hope somehow. He couldn't really explain it._

_When she walked back into the hallway, the girl suddenly wheeled around, and he was almost positive that she was staring directly at him. Surprisingly, she frowned and glared at his location, causing him to be puzzled. Why would she look at him like that? And... did she know he was here?_

_The girl broke out into a jog unexpectedly and before he could chase after her from being startled by her expression, she slammed the door and by the sound of it, locked it as well. Now he couldn't get in._

_He pressed his ear against the door, listening hard. He heard a closet opening... wait, there had been a closet in there? If there had been one, he supposed he hadn't noticed it. It was odd that he didn't know of its existence, though, like it appeared out of nowhere..._

_A feeling of coldness gripped him savagely, worming its way as a strand of fear._

_The closet, if that was what it had been, hadn't been part of the girl's room. It had been put in there by some sort of magic._

_He had a strong feeling that the lavender haired man was a bigger part of this than he first imagined._

_The door unlocked itself with a click, startling him. The girl opened the door gradually, him waiting almost impatiently. Finally it was all the way open, but she just stood in the doorway, staring at him although she couldn't see him._

_He waited for her to move, but she didn't. The girl gazed at him with dead eyes and said blankly, "You're so stupid."_

_He blinked in surprise. Had he heard correctly what she said? There was no way she'd call him stupid; he was trying to save her!_

_He thought about replying, but as he opened his mouth, the whole place jerked violently, sending him on his back skidding down the hallway. He sat up, but the girl now hung her head, blonde hair hiding her eyes, and shut the door._

_He looked at the door, expecting it to reopen, but all of a sudden he was falling through darkness, pitch black darkness--_

Sora moaned, shaking his head to clear it of the sleepiness. He was in his red pajamas--of course, he had gone to bed a while ago...

But this wasn't his comfy, neat bed. It wasn't even his house.

Sora was currently sitting in cool liquid a good distance from the... beach? The water lapped around him lazily, soaking his clothes. The remaining tiredness was zapped from his mind as he registered that he was in _the ocean._ How in the _heck_...?

Sora quickly stood up, shivering in his cold garments. He tried hard to recall how and when he had gotten here, but he couldn't remember anything besides his dream with the mystery girl. If he went beyond that, then he came up with brushing his teeth and climbing into bed. There wasn't anything out of place in his memory. However, it was a possibility that his dream had led him outside, but all the way out here? He hadn't even walked that far in his dream.

"I... I must have sleepwalked," Sora stated just to convince him that there wasn't any connection between his dream and why he was standing in the ocean in wet pajamas.

He began to shiver violently; the night was strangely freezing and it didn't help that he had sleepwalked into water. Sora sluggishly sloshed towards the beach, thinking of how nice it would be to change into warm clothes and go back to sleep. Finally, his feet touched sand, and Sora sighed in relief that he was heading for home. However, a hand suddenly settled onto his shoulder, making him bite back a scream.

Lips became close to his ear, and Sora could feel the person's breath.

"Hello," spoke the person, who seemed to a man with a surprisingly soft voice.

"...Who are you?" Sora asked breathlessly. He could hardly get the question out of his mouth.

"Me?" The man sounded genuinely surprised. "No one special, at least not to anyone besides you."

"You're someone," protested Sora, squeezing his eyes shut. "You have her, don't you?"

"Oh, aren't you the storyteller!" He laughed, and Sora winced at the sound of it. He could tell that he hated this man. "I don't have her, whoever you're talking about. You must be thinking of me as someone else."

Sora couldn't take it anymore. He shook off the man's hand and whirled around to face him. The boy wasn't the least bit surprised to see it was the lavender haired man, the one who he wasn't that scared of anymore, just angry at.

"Who are you?" Sora asked again, his tone demanding an answer.

The man shrugged dramatically, smiling for an odd reason. "You should know, shouldn't you?"

Sora frowned, but said nothing. He had no clue on who this man was, but he wanted to do nothing more than to bash his helmet with his Keyblade. However, he found no will to summon the mighty weapon, like he was afraid to.

The man, if his eyes were visible, should have blinked at this point. "Forgive me, but you have no idea who I am," he chuckled. "So sorry." He spoke again after a pause. "Or am I wrong? You either know who I am or you don't."

The only thing Sora replied with was, "You're confusing me."

Again, the helmeted man shrugged in his open-armed way. "We're running around in circles here, aren't we? You won't stop asking me who I am and I believe you already know." He smirked, changing his attitude from pleasant to rather mean. "Say my name."

Sora could say nothing; he only knew what this man looked like. What he did or his identity was unknown to him. But even know that was true, the name was on the tip of his tongue, but what was it?

He shook his head. "I know it..." Sora admitted slowly, "But I can't say it."

The man nodded in approval, putting his hands on his hips. "Good enough for now. Keep thinking about it and you'll know soon."

His figure began to swim in shadows, and the man faded away, his last statement ringing in Sora's head.

It was a few moments before he started to move again, but the night was disappearing from his vision so quickly... Sora passed out, his wet body thudding against the sand. His thoughts were devoid of anything except the girl and the man, neither who he knew their names.


	4. Catching On

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. I only own any original characters and the plot.

Chapter 4: Catching On

Sora had finally reached his house after what seemed to take forever instead of a few minutes. The night blew chilly breath occasionally, making him shiver, but on the bright side, it was drying his clothes some. He would have to change when he got inside, though.

Now Sora walked up the front steps of the porch and opened the door. Stepping inside, he listened for any signs of activity. There was only faint snores coming from upstairs, and you had to strain your ears to hear them. Good, Julia and Des were still asleep. If he was careful, then they wouldn't have to know that he had sleepwalked.

Sora ascended the stairs and paused again to listen. Sounds of sleep were still audible, but louder since he was nearer to their location. Satisfied, he went into his room.

The sheets of his bed were in a puddle on the floor, kicked aside when he had gotten up to wander into the ocean. As Sora quietly pulled open the drawer and withdrew another pair of pajamas, he thought back on how he had suddenly passed out. He still had no idea why it happened, but it had only been for an hour, give or take. There appeared to be no side effects of his unconsciousness, so he supposed it had meant nothing. The funny thing was, after Sora came to, he could have sworn that someone had spoken to him, but he shrugged it off unimportantly. For all he knew, it could've been the wind.

Sora undressed and put on the pajamas that he had retrieved from the drawer. He went outside his room and towards the bathroom, tossing his clothes inside the hamper. He only hoped that Des wouldn't notice the sand on them when she did laundry tomorrow--or was it already then? Sora didn't know, and he almost didn't care.

Once he reentered his bedroom, he practically fell onto his bed, feeling worn out. He was asleep almost immediately.

* * *

"Sora, it's time to wake up!"

Destiny shook her sleeping brother rather roughly by the shoulder, but he didn't budge. The covers around him were bunched up and her sense of neatness longed to straighten them, but it was best not to disturb him, she thought. However, it was nearly one-o'-clock in the afternoon, and Sora was still conked out. Destiny half wondered if he had stayed up more of the night and that made her giggle, but she hurriedly covered her mouth to stifle it. The motion was useless since her brother didn't even twitch.

She tapped her foot impatiently on the floor for a few seconds before she shook Sora again. There was still no response.

Destiny sighed in defeat, knowing she couldn't rouse Sora, and walked quietly out of his bedroom and into the bathroom, ready to do the laundry for the week.

The white hamper was about halfway filled with clothes, pajamas, shirts, pants, and dresses combined with socks and unmentionables. She busied herself with shifting the laundry to the wicker basket placed by Julia yesterday. A frown creased her face when she came across blue night clothes with grains of sand speckled throughout it. Destiny thought it strange for pajamas to be sandy, but weren't these Sora's?

"Hmm..." she mumbled in thought, closely examining the clothes she held in her hands. She had noticed that her brother had been acting a little odd lately. He wasn't that talkative, and Destiny expected him to smile and tell her and Julia about what he, Riku, and Kairi did that day. Even stranger, he hadn't mentioned his two best friends, nor had they come to tell Julia to tell Sora to meet them at the beach when he got up.

He had been sleeping later than usual, and even when he went to bed early, he still got up in the late hours of morning. Destiny thought it was too early to tell, but something certainly was going on with Sora and with a determined resolve, she promised herself to ask him when he finally dragged himself out of bed.

* * *

Kairi walked down the streets of the square, the usually bustling area almost devoid of people besides early morning risers. Her mom had asked her to buy a jug of milk for breakfast since she felt like cereal, and Kairi had agreed to buy some, so here she was in the middle of town. Luckily, stores had opened not too long ago.

It wasn't until after she exited the store with her purchase that she heard music coming from by the fountain. Kairi smiled a bit, seeing that it was just Demyx playing his water blue sitar for a couple of people. He really enjoyed making music, and most of the time he was standing by the fountain, adjusting his instrument and plucking the strings before he started a different song.

Demyx knew just about everyone on the island, but no one really knew who he was. He had appeared on Destiny Islands one day, with no background or identification besides his sitar and name, and not to mention a blank memory. Kairi thought he wasn't that disturbed about his memory, and Demyx seemed to be content with that. He actually made the islands a bit brighter.

Kairi snapped back to reality and hurried off to the mayor's house, carrying the milk in a shopping bag. She didn't notice that someone was following her until they cried out, "Hey, Kairi!"

She whirled around and spotted Demyx waving at her and trying his best to catch up with her. He must have finished his song for him to have a talk with her.

When the light brown haired musician was beside her, Kairi greeted, "Hi, Demyx."

Demyx broke out in a sunny grin, green eyes sparkling with joy. "Hello!" He sort of reminded Kairi about how optimistic Sora was all the time...

Wait... Sora. The memory of her friend caused Kairi to bite her lip in worry, since that morning on the beach two days ago--but it seemed so long ago--he had been acting so different... And it was all because of this stupid girl who didn't exist!

"You look concerned about something," Demyx noted, bringing Kairi again back to the islands. "Is something wrong?"

She nodded but didn't say anything. How could she explain something to someone she didn't really know that well?

Demyx put a hand on her shoulder. He knocked her off balance by saying, "If it's about Sora, then I don't really know what to say." He looked pretty serious, not his usual happy self.

Kairi gazed straight into his eyes in disbelief. "How... how did you know?" she spluttered, jerking Demyx to a stop by grabbing a denim jacket clad arm.

"Whoa, whoa there!" he cried, almost falling on the stone ground and trying to keep his balance. Surprisingly, Demyx had a lack of steadiness sometimes. After he was on his two feet again, Demyx replied, "There's something going on with him."

"I know that!" Kairi nearly shouted. Demyx stared at her, dumbfound, blinking in confusion. She calmed down a bit, not wanting to hurt Demyx's feelings, and clasped her hands together, placing the milk on the ground. "I'm really worried about Sora. He's acting totally different, and it's all because of this girl he dreams about! I think she's driving him crazy!"

Finally, her concerns were out. Maybe Kairi didn't spill them to the person she needed to--Sora, but he was worlds apart, it seemed--but Demyx could help. She was sure of it.

Demyx still appeared a bit astounded at her actions, but he nodded and said, "You might be right about the crazy part," He crossed his arms. "Last night, you wouldn't believe what I saw down at the beach."

Kairi's attention was now fully turned towards Demyx. "What happened?" Getting home was a decision that didn't seem to be important anymore.

"Well..." He thought about how exactly to say this. "I saw him sleepwalking to the beach."

She blinked. "Sleepwalking?"

Demyx nodded, sighing. "I know, it sounds so weird, doesn't it? If I remember correctly, there was something circular and dark in the ocean, and that's what Sora was walking towards," He added, "It might have been a portal or something."

Kairi listened intently, but a portal was in the ocean? That was really suspicious.

Demyx continued, "Suddenly, before he reached the portal--or whatever it was--he fell back and woke up a couple seconds later."

"Did he see the portal?" Kairi questioned.

Demyx shook his head. "It disappeared when Sora hit the water."

"Oh," she said, a little disappointed. Maybe he would've thought something was strange if he had seen it. "Please continue."

"Let's see..." He thought about the next part of the story. "Sora stood in the ocean for a minute or two, probably wondering how he got there. Then he started to head for the beach and home. However, he just stopped like someone had surprised him, but the thing was, no one was there except for him. Sora whirled around and shouted at no one, and he talked to thin air for a couple of minutes before passing out," Demyx looked Kairi levelly. "That's what I witnessed last night."

It was Kairi's turn to be surprised. "He passed out? Why?"

"I'm not the right person to ask," responded Demyx a little sadly.

"That does it!" She cried out, stomping her foot angrily on the stones. "I'm going to talk to him, and no one can stop me!" A little softer, she added, "That girl is doing something to him, I know it!" Without another word, Kairi bolted off in the opposite direction.

Demyx blinked again. He glanced down and saw the milk still sitting on the ground. He grumbled, picked it up, and headed off in the direction of the mayor's house. It was delivery time for Demyx.

* * *

"...Sora, what in heaven is going _on_ with you?" Julia Hikari shouted, glaring at her son.

Sora just stared at his mother blankly. There was nothing present in his face at all, not even a bit of caring. Destiny shivered looking at him, but that might have something to do with him snatching her wrist earlier, leaving a red mark. She had tried to talk to him about the sandy pajamas, but at first, he didn't respond. When Destiny pressed him further, Sora had reached out and grabbed her wrist so tight that she had been afraid that it would break. The pain was pretty bad, and Julia had heard what was going on from the sewing room, and here they were, Destiny in the corner staring at Sora, wounded, her brother passive, and Julia was very angry. It was startling to see her get this worked up, but then again, the worst thing that had ever happened in this house close to a scuffle was when Julia had attempted to persuade Toki to wear a tie just this once for a family picture. But that had happened seven years ago, and no one was like this.

Julia put her hands on her hips and stated firmly, "You have some explaining to do, Sora Hikari."

Sora just stared. Destiny wondered if this was really her little brother, this boy who turned emotionless and had actually hurt someone in the short span of two days.

Julia still looked ferocious. "Aren't you doing to say something about you hurting your own sister?"

The only thing Sora said was, "You don't need to know my business."

Both Destiny and Julia were shocked at this. Sora used to be open to whatever he was going to do; there was no need for him to be like this!

"Sora Hikari, I demand--" Julia began.

"No."

She was obviously being pushed too far into anger to deal with any of Sora's refusals. "I am your mother, you _will_ tell me!"

Sora simply shrugged. "Why should I? If no one will believe me, then no one ever will," He shot Julia a glare, causing her to flinch as if he hurt her. Destiny could only stare in rising horror as Sora continued being so... wicked. "I've honestly had it with 'she doesn't exist' or 'you should forget about her'!" Sora struck the table with a fist, fury rising. "If everyone is going to tell me that--" He glanced out the window and muttered a curse.

Destiny looked out the window as well, and saw a familiar redhead storming across the beach to the house. She almost sighed in relief, but since Sora seemed disgusted at the sight of Kairi, she wondered if he was getting along with his two friends. If that was the case, than that was why Sora hadn't mentioned them.

The door banged open and a steaming Kairi stood in the opening, arms crossed and a frown embedded on her face. "Sora, I'm angry with you right now!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "I don't want to talk or listen to you."

Kairi faltered at his words, but she continued on. "You should just give up on this imaginary girl! She's driving you _crazy_, can't you see that?"

"Crazy...?" Julia echoed, staring in disbelief at her son. Destiny did the same, eyes wide.

"I'm perfectly _fine_," Sora said through clenched teeth. "My mind is no less sane than it was before."

"Can you prove that?" Kairi retorted. "All you've been talking about is someone who doesn't exist--"

"You'd better watch it..." Sora hissed, and in that moment, Destiny thought he did look absolutely mad. There was almost no way this could be her optimistic, pure-hearted younger brother, not this person who was so cruel to his family and what seemed like friends as well.

Ignoring Sora's warning--although she did look hurt--Kairi resumed talking. "Honestly, have you ever stopped to _think_ about this? Don't you find it strange that you're so worked up over this girl and you've never even met her, if she exists?"

"I said..." Sora began, his fist a tight ball. He didn't finish his sentence for some reason. Destiny hoped he wouldn't harm Kairi in any way; she didn't deserve his rage. But _what_ was going on here? Destiny couldn't make heads or tails about this girl or why Sora was acting this way.

Kairi's eyes pleaded silently with him, seeming to hope that Sora--the real one--would come back. "Please, Sora, just forget about this illusion! Riku, Destiny, Mrs. Hikari..." She acknowledged Julia and Destiny's presence with a nod. "Demyx, and I... we want the old Sora back, and we care about you. We just want you to come back and be our friend or son again," She gazed at Sora, who was silent. "Please?"

There was an uncomfortable quietness in the house. Destiny could see that Sora was still full of rage, and he wasn't about to give in so quickly. That punctured any hope she had, but Kairi was still wishing for him to listen. Deep down, Destiny knew that this puzzling situation wasn't going to be solved by just a girl's pleas.

At last, Sora replied, "That's a load of lies."

Kairi took a step back, not angry anymore. Whatever she had been expecting for a response, it wasn't this. "W-Why?" she stammered, clasping her hands together. "What do you mean--"

"You know _exactly_ what I mean!" Sora shouted. His blue eyes glared daggers at her. "Inside of your heart, you don't care about her or me, right?"

"How can you say such things to your friend?" Julia cut in.

To everyone's surprise, Sora chuckled. The sound of it was evil, and it sent shivers down Destiny's spine. What he said next shocked everyone. "Friend? Who says this person who won't believe that a blonde haired girl is out there someone, crying and hurt, is my _friend_? This redhead didn't deserve my company for all these years."

Kairi eyes grew wide with unpleasant surprise and began to fill with tears. Now all of her hope was diminished. "S-Sora, I..." She couldn't speak anymore; she was on the verge of bursting into tears.

Julia's final patience snapped at this. Sora was heading for the door, but she got in front of him, preventing him from leaving the house. "Sora Hikari, you are in deep--"

"Move aside," was all he said, gesturing it with his hand.

Julia wasn't going to give up, but her anger deflated and she stepped aside, letting Sora leave. She sighed with sadness and frustration, and she hesitantly asked Kairi, "Do you know what's going on with him?"

Kairi shook her head and sniffed. "T-This feels terrible!" she wailed, burying her face in her hands. "Sora doesn't care for me anymore!"

Destiny walked over to the crying girl, rubbing her back soothingly. "There, there, Kairi..." There was no use trying to talk her into comfort with ideas of Sora returning to the way he was.

She knew that it wouldn't do any good.

* * *

The sun was setting again, and Sora was all alone on a cliff overseeing the ocean, the same one he had gone to when he foolishly told Riku and Kairi about his dream. It was much better to be by himself instead of being surrounded by people who most likely didn't care about him.

He ears perked up at the sound of clapping. Was someone applauding? Sora turned around, and there was the lavender haired man again, smiling slightly while his hands struck each other.

"Hello again!" the man greeted, his tone rather happy. "Good to see you!"

To Sora, the man's presence didn't exactly make him feel any better, but his company was a lot more welcome than Kairi's or anyone else's. "Hello," he returned.

"So..." The man took a step closer, halting his clapping. "Any luck for you?"

"Luck?" repeated Sora, a bit confused.

"I mean for knowing my name, of course!" he responded, laughing a bit.

"Umm..." Sora crossed his arms and closed his eyes to ponder. What was this stranger's name?

As if someone flicked on a light switch in his head, the name appeared to him.

"Well," Sora began, opening his eyes. "I don't know if I'm happy to see you as you are me, Remless."

The man clapped once in joy. "Congratulations! You got it! My name is Remless!" He seemed to think for a moment. "And you must be... Sora, correct?"

He nodded. "That's me."

Remless smiled. "Oh, it's nice to know that we are on a first name basis now! No more mystery names, eh?"

"I guess so..."

"Anyway..." Remless stretched his arms. "I'd like to congratulate you on something else besides knowing my name," He stepped forward until he stood before Sora. The brown haired boy noticed that Remless was quite taller than he was. A hand was placed on his shoulder. "You should feel good now that you've gotten rid of a backstabbing friend."

Sora was knocked off balance by this. "How did you know?"

Remless shook his head slowly. "I find you quite interesting, so I hope you don't find me a bother when I peek into your life every now and then. I saw your argument with your so-called friend--Kairi, was it? It was a smart idea to break your friendship with her." He leaned down to whisper into Sora's ear. "She believed that you were losing your mind and wouldn't think that you are perfectly in good mental health. And worst of all... she didn't care about this girl you dream about..."

Sora stiffened under his hand. "Please tell me that you believe me, Remless."

Remless chuckled softly. "Of course _I_ do. I feel so sorry for her, sobbing and wishing desperately for someone to help her, and maybe you could be that person."

Sora was in disbelief. "...Could I really save her from the clutches of whoever's holding her captive?"

"I suppose so, yes," Remless replied. "But neither you nor I know where she is being held. Perhaps with my assistance, I could locate her and together we can rescue that poor girl from her terrible fate."

For once, a smile was on Sora's face. "Could you do that?"

Remless straightened back up and nodded. Sora felt extremely hopeful for this; he could save her and that'll show Kairi who doesn't exist! But then again, he didn't care about Kairi anymore; she was no one to him now.

"If you start tracking her now, what time would you come back here to tell me?" asked Sora.

Remless sighed and shrugged. "I can't say. It might take a couple of minutes or two days, I don't know. Hopefully you'll wait patiently for me."

"I will," confirmed Sora.

Remless patted the boy on the head. "That's good to know, Sora. I'll do everything within my power to find this girl for you."

His figure swam in shadows again, and Remless was gone. Sora considered going back to his house and almost rejected it because his family would be furious with him, but he went there anyway, feeling elated.

He could finally see this girl now, and he depended on Remless for it to happen.


	5. Different Stories

Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. I only own any original characters and the plot.

Chapter 5: Different Stories

If what had happened two days ago didn't occur, now would be the time that Destiny and Julia would've noticed Sora's actions.

Sora had distanced himself even further now, not even glancing at his sister or mother as he exited the house. His sleep still continued into the afternoons, and he didn't seem to notice how late it was anymore. Sora hated any company and avoided his family, any friends he still had, and even people he didn't know. No one could get a word out of him in his current state. He ignored everything and when he left the house, Sora didn't come back until late at night. He spent all day by himself, and he didn't mind it one bit, it seemed.

When breakfast, lunch, or dinner came around, there always was an empty seat with a plate of untouched food. Julia put the leftovers in the refrigerator, hoping that Sora would come back and eat them, but he wasn't eating much, if anything. If he did sit down with a plate, Sora would just poke it with his fork and maybe pick at it or scoot the food around the dish until Destiny took it from him.

This morning, Julia and Destiny were quiet as they sat down for breakfast. Sora had walked out without a word just a few minutes ago, and there was an eerie silence in the house. They were both concerned for him, but he just didn't care at all.

And two days ago, when Sora broke his friendship with Kairi, there had been a mention of a girl and insanity. Whatever those meant surely was trouble for him, and according to what they had heard, a blonde haired girl invaded Sora's dreams was driving him crazy without him noticing what was happening to him. Destiny and Julia thought that it did make sense, but what was the real truth?

Riku and Kairi had pretty much faded from their life now. They didn't visit anymore; after all, if Sora could say such ugly things to Kairi, then what was the point of Riku talking to him? It wouldn't be much difference, besides the gender of the victim.

All the two Hikaris could do was sit at the kitchen table and continue on with their lives as best as they could without a third face around.

* * *

"Riku, please talk to him!"

"Kairi, what's the point? And I already said that I wouldn't do it!"

"But, you used to be so close--"

"_Used to_, keywords there."

"But... he could listen--"

"If he isn't friends with you anymore, what made you think--"

"You two, please stop it!" Demyx interrupted, frowning.

Riku sighed. "We're sorry, Demyx." He didn't like the frown on his usually smiling face; it just wasn't like him.

"You'd better be," Demyx sat down on the bench besides Riku and Kairi, the fountain bubbling merrily behind them. "Have you two ever noticed that all you talk about is Sora and his problems?" He sighed, leaning his sitar against the fountain's basin. "And you call _him_ obsessed."

"I didn't realize that..." Kairi replied sadly. She was still shook up over how Sora treated her. Riku would be too if he said those horrible things to him. He didn't blame his girlfriend one bit.

"But I'm still curious about why he's like this," Riku said after a short silence. "There's no explanation why besides pinning the blame on this girl who we don't know truly about her existence!"

"I'm telling you, Riku, it's her fault!" Kairi cried. "She's the only one in his dreams, and she's the object of Sora's attention all of the time, what's to think differently?"

"You do have a point there..." Riku agreed. "But can we be completely sure?"

"No, we're not sure of any of this," Demyx replied. "None of us know what's going on with Sora." He seemed to get an idea. "How about trying to talk to him?"

Riku frowned. "Demyx, weren't you listening? That's exactly what Kairi was trying to convince me to do, but…" He sighed. "I know it won't work; he already cut his friendship with Kairi."

"But it wouldn't hurt to try, though."

Kairi added, "You've known Sora longer than I have, maybe you can make a difference." Her gaze was hopeful on Riku.

The silver haired boy stood up and said, "Fine, I'll talk to him. Where is he?"

"Hmm…" Demyx pondered for a moment. "You should find him somewhere on a cliff overlooking the ocean."

Riku blinked in surprise. "How do you know that? None of us have seen him at all lately!"

"Just try it," The sitar player said, avoiding the question. He looked away into the distance.

Riku didn't really want to press Demyx too hard, but he asked again, "How do you know?"

"I don't know! I just do, okay?" He sounded surprisingly close to tears, but before Riku or Kairi could say anything, Demyx picked up his sitar and ran off to his house where he lived all by himself.

Kairi was silent on what they had just witnessed. "What's wrong with Demyx all of a sudden?"

Riku said nothing about that, but he wondered if it had anything to do with what Demyx didn't remember, which was everything except his age, name, how to play and tune a sitar, and his memories of Destiny Islands.

* * *

Alone was how Sora liked to be all of the time, with the exception of Remless or the girl. If he wanted company, then they would be the ones he wanted to see.

Sora was becoming more concerned about the girl. His dreams were becoming a bit stranger; she was aware of his presence but she wouldn't actually talk to him except to say 'Don't you realize anything yet?' or 'Is this real? Think about it and make your decision!'. He wondered if she had some mental problems or something; Sora was convinced that not only was she hurt, but maybe something had happened to her mind. He wondered if Remless was having any luck on finding her.

He suddenly felt something he didn't like in the air, so he stood up and looked over the path to his sitting spot. Sora caught a glance of silver and swore under his breath.

"How dare he come find me…" he muttered angrily. "He's going to pay the price if he even _tries_ to persuade me differently." He suddenly grinned, and he knew it was a scary look. It felt just right to knock some sense into Riku. "Oh yes, he'll pay…"

Sora, still smiling evilly, leaned back against a nearby palm tree to wait for his ex-friend, staying out of sight. He was already thinking of Riku as that; he just knew that he could finally get away from him. Remless had been right when he complimented Sora on breaking his friendship with Kairi--he didn't need her, so why would Riku be any different?

_Two betrayers can be together while I'm smart enough to not fall for their traps, _Sora thought. _Just who do they think I am, some stupid person who can be manipulated easily? Oh, they're so blind to my intelligence, aren't they? _He chuckled quietly just in case Riku was approaching faster than he thought. _There's no way they're going to prevent me from saving her. If they try to throw me into an asylum to ruin my life, then they'll be in for a big surprise..._

He heard soft footsteps; Riku must be coming. Sora couldn't help but grin even wider.

His giddiness was slightly dampened by wondering, _but how did he find me? I've kept myself hidden from sight. Hmm, looks like I didn't do as well of a job as I thought, since someone as clueless as he is could find me..._

"Sora, I need to talk to you!"

Riku was here, finally. It took him long enough. Sora glanced out of the corner of his eye, staying as silent as he could. He wasn't hiding from Riku; he just wanted to give him a good scare or surprise. Harmless enough, wasn't it?

"Sora, are you here?" Riku called. He sighed. "Maybe Demyx was wrong on where he would be, but he seemed so sure..."

Demyx? Wasn't he that sitar player by the fountain all of the time? Sora scowled at the thought of someone like him knowing his location. He hadn't anticipated this, that's for sure.

It didn't really matter anyway, but it seemed like Demyx knew more than just where Sora was, but that was just speculation, although there was something about this enigma that slightly bothered him...

Sora shook off the thoughts and returned to looking as Riku the best he could. It seemed as if he was ready to give up on looking for him.

_How dumb is he? _pondered Sora with an undertone of mockery. _I'm behind a tree and he doesn't even get close to it! He's blind to something so obvious!_

Riku sighed again and turned around, beginning to shuffle down the path.

This was his chance. Sora stepped out from behind the palm tree, grateful that the sand would muffle his footsteps. He crept up behind Riku and whispered, "I'm not going to fall for your tricks." He placed a hand on Riku's shoulder and felt his ex-friend stiffen under his touch.

"Sora, you scared me..." He tried to turn around, but Sora stopped him by clamping his other hand on Riku's opposite shoulder.

"You'll turn around when I want you to, understand?" He was pleased to hear how icy his voice had gotten.

Riku nodded, but it was so rigid that he could have been a toy soldier. Sora was glad to see that he had wormed under a betrayer's skin in a shorter time than it took for Riku to lie about things that he didn't understand completely. This was going to be fun.

"First, Riku," Sora began, never loosening on his grip. "Tell me why you want to cast me aside like a piece of garbage."

"Sora, I--" He actually sounded scared to talk. Sora's grin couldn't expand anymore to express his feelings.

"You weren't expecting this to backfire on you, were you, betrayer? Oh yes, you wanted to drive me crazy just so you can have a funny conversation with others of your kind. Liars, they all are, just wanting to bring despair into people's lives that don't deserve it."

"Where are you getting this stuff from? There's no way I'd ever do that to you!" Riku cried, trying to defend himself.

"Of course you wouldn't," responded Sora sarcastically. "Not Riku, the girls' favorite, the sports star, the boy who gets good grades. There's no way _he_ could be hiding under a black cloak of lies." He sniggered. "You tried to delusion me with fake words, trying to get me to convince myself that I'm crazy and need to be dealt with. You played the good friend role for all of those years, and I'll admit that I was clueless to your doings. But I've gotten smarter, and the girl has shown me that there is someone out there who's been ridiculed--"

"Stop it, just _stop it_!" Riku shouted, tearing free of Sora's grasp. He wheeled around to face him, but his face became stunned when he saw the wide, crocodile grin on Sora's face. Sora knew that it was a good idea to freak Riku out; the silver haired boy hadn't seen this coming, not this unplanned backfiring.

"Sora... what has _happened _to you?" Riku whispered in disbelief.

Sora rolled his eyes, never losing his expression a bit. "Mock stun, how expected. You still think I'll go along with these lies, just like you've done for all those past years. I'm smarter than that, you know... I'm not going to believe one word that comes out of your mouth anymore." He chuckled again. "I bet she would get a big kick out of this..." Sora sniggered in a couple of times before going into a laughing fit that would chill even the bravest of people.

This was too funny! Riku was a good actor, pretending he actually _cared_ for him! If Sora was ignorant to what was really going on with him, then it would have passed his awareness as genuine. But it was all one gigantic lie! With this realization, he laughed even harder.

He didn't notice Riku slowly backing away before bolting in the opposite direction.

It served the betrayer right, to be frightened by how he was acting.

Oh, wouldn't all of Riku's comrades in deceit feel so exposed now that Sora was smart enough to bust their defenses down to mere rubble! That idea caused Sora an extra feeling to laugh for, and there he stood, a boy with spiky brown hair, whose sounds could make someone think he was as crazy as Riku's friends were trying to lead him to believe.

At a house in the town outskirts, a searing pain ripped through a musician's head.


	6. Shedding Light

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. I only own the plot, Remless, Destiny, and Julia.

Chapter 6: Shedding Light

The sun rose the next day, but something was wrong. And Demyx knew it, unfortunately.

He couldn't put his finger on what exactly was wrong, but he knew it was something horrible. He had spent almost the entire night with a giant headache that felt like it would split his head open and whatever sleep he had gotten was plagued with nightmares he couldn't decipher. Demyx's concerns for himself were increased now, what with the already lost memory. He didn't know what was wrong--if anything--with him, but it was bothering him greatly.

And he felt like someone was at fault...

Demyx shook off the thought and finally dragged himself out of bed. His head wasn't hurting anymore--a big relief--but he was extremely tired. Maybe some water on his face would do some good.

Demyx's house wasn't anything special, just a wooden house with the necessities of life. He had to look after it by himself, and it was lonely at times.

He stood before the sink in the bathroom and turned on the water. It ran into the sink for a few seconds before Demyx cupped his hands under the flow of water and splashed it in his face. He sighed afterwards, water dripping off his face, and leaned closer to the mirror, hands clasping the edges of the sink.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked himself, staring into his reflection.

Without warning, a bolt of pain flashed through Demyx's head. He reached up and grabbed his head.

"No, not again!" he groaned.

Demyx gritted his teeth against the pounding pain threatening to cut open his head. Inside his mind, he began to see an image form, but what it depicted wasn't clear yet. The hurt was increasing steadily, and bright spots began to dance across his vision. Demyx squeezed his eyes shut and wished desperately for this to stop.

The image slowly became a gigantic spider's web. There were two things wrapped in silk trapped in it, and as the picture steadily cleared, Demyx realized with horror that there were people encased in the thread.

_Ghastly..._ he thought, seeing it with terror and amazement.

His mind zoomed in to the person nearer to the top, and Demyx saw it was a blonde haired girl. The thread covered her entire body except for a small section of her lower neck, and he could see that she was wearing a white dress. Her wrists were bound to the web, but not the rest of her arms. Her head was hanging forward, and she was seemingly unconscious.

Demyx tried to look lower to see the other person, but this vision didn't allow him to. He was a bit discouraged at this, but he just stared at the girl, wondering if she was going to wake up. The pain raving in his head seemed a whole world away.

"She's going to take me over."

The girl's head suddenly rose, and her eyes opened. "She's going to take me over," she repeated.

Demyx was confused. Who was going to take her over? Who was she?

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm the real Namine!" she responded.

"Real?"

"Listen to me!" Namine cried, a desperate tone in her voice. "The girl that Sora sees, it's not me! It's her!"

"But who's she?" Demyx was trying to make sense of this, but he was failing to.

"_I'm_ Namine, not that imposter!" Namine paused, biting her lip. "If you don't understand, look down."

His mind moved towards the other figure, and Demyx was shocked at what he saw.

There was no mistaking the spiky brown hair; the other figure was Sora. He was unconscious as well, but his arms were bound to the web as well as the rest of his body besides his head.

Demyx was too astonished to speak. Namine realized his silence and whispered, "That's the real Sora."

There was a thick silence, and Namine continued. "Both of us are the real people, not the ones you see. Sora's been bound here ever since he started to have dreams about the imposter of me. Sometimes I can be in control of my own body, and then I try to warn him of what's going on to help awaken his real self, but he doesn't listen! He can't hear me!"

Finally, Demyx asked, "What's going to happen to Sora?"

"If you and the other two don't do something soon, we'll be wrapped in threads and lost to the shadows!" Namine cried. "Sora fell for the lies quicker than planned, so his control over himself is extremely slim! I know what's going on and he doesn't, and there will be two imposters of us if nothing's done!" She sniffed. "You don't know what it's like to have a stranger inside your body while all you can do is watch the horrible things they do!"

"So the Sora we see is an imposter?"

"Yes! Do you think the boy tied here just like I am will ever hurt his own sister, make his mother angry, or fight with his two best friends? Even if he did do any of those things, he would apologize and try to forget it happened! The imposter knows that whatever tragedy he spreads, he means it!"

"Namine, do you know if anyone is doing this?" Demyx questioned. For a strange reason, he almost didn't want to know. He couldn't put his finger on why.

"His name is..." Demyx saw her mouth move, but no sound came out of it. She must have noticed because she said, "I don't know why I can't tell you!" She sighed. "I'm sorry..."

"Hey, it's alright, Namine." The blonde haired girl brightened a pinch, but not much. After all, Demyx wouldn't be in too good spirits if he was bound to a spider's web. "Say, how can you contact me?"

Namine shook her head. "I don't know, but there's something like an aura around you... I can't explain it, but you seem to be..." She stared directly at Demyx. "Almost like me."

"I don't have an imposter!" protested Demyx.

"It's not that! I... I don't know." Namine looked down sadly.

There was more silence before she suddenly looked around and said, "I'm going now. He's coming to check on me, and he doesn't know about you." Namine sighed. "I hope it's not too late for Sora..."

With that, the vision began to fade, and Demyx was surprised by him not having any complaints. When he was back into awareness, he realized he was almost flat on the floor holding his head. Thankfully, the pain was gone, although he still felt weak and shaky. Demyx got to his feet and looked at himself in the mirror again.

"This situation has more to it than we thought, doesn't it? I know I should tell Riku and Kairi about this, but I'll have to wait until I feel a bit better." He looked closer at his reflection. "And I think it's time to tell them _that_ too."

* * *

Riku's head hit the table with a thud. He was _not_ a morning person. He just couldn't understand how on earth people could be happy just when they get interrupted of a great dream. He groaned.

Someone tapped Riku on the head. "Come on, bro, wake up."

"I don't want to. You disturbed my dream." Riku managed the raise his head, but his eyes were almost closed because of the light. "Why does the sun have to rise so early?"

"Maybe you should ask it," responded Riku's brother a bit rudely.

"Jordan, you're such a smart mouth," mumbled Riku, rubbing his eyes.

"Well pardon me, little morning person," retorted Jordan, seating himself in a chair.

"Can you go away?" Riku was usually extremely grumpy in this part of the day, and his older brother wasn't helping it any.

"Wow, I'm so loved," Jordan scoffed before getting up from the kitchen table and ascending the stairs to his bedroom.

Riku banged his head on the table again, winced at the pain it caused, and stayed there in blissful silence for a few moments before there was a knock at the door.

He almost didn't get up to answer it since he wasn't keen on budging from his chair, but he decided since no one else was around, he'd better see who it is.

Riku slid the stair back and walked almost zombie-like to the door. "Who is it?" he asked half-heartedly.

A sniff was heard on the other side. "It's me, Riku, Mrs. Hikari!"

That caused Riku to wake up. If Sora's mom had come here, then something must have happened. There were too many possibilities for that, and it chilled him to think of how far Sora's hatred would go.

His imagination conjured many things, but Riku shut his mind to them and opened the door.

Julia Hikari looked forlorn, with red eyes and tear strains down her face. "I'm sorry to bother you at this time of day..."

"No, it's okay."

"Well, it's just that..." She sniffed again. "When Sora went out for the day yesterday, he... he didn't come back!"

_Oh crap..._ thought Riku with alarm. _Where could he have gone? There's just too much mystery to this!_

Julia wrung a tissue she had brought along worriedly with her hands. "I... I just hope he didn't turn into another Toki! I don't want to lose anymore of my children; one's enough!"

She burst out sobbing and managed to say, "I just thought I'd let you know..." And with that, she ran off to her house.

Riku didn't blame Julia for being concerned about Sora; he was the only son she had left, and it was bad enough that Toki had gone out for a walk one night about seven years ago and in the morning, a fisherman found him dead.

However, he didn't feel like Sora was dead.

Riku sighed. "This is getting serious. I have to go tell Kairi and Demyx."

He headed back into the house to get dressed.

* * *

Namine's pencil made a few last lines over the sketch, completing it. All she had to do was color it and it would be perfect.

She gazed at her creation, a picture of Remless. He would surely be pleased by its likeness of him.

"You're good, Namine," commented a spiky haired boy sitting across from her at an iron gray table.

"Thanks, Sora," she responded, putting down her pencil. "I think Remless will like it, don't you?"

"Of course he will," assured Sora. "He likes you, so why wouldn't he?"

"He thinks highly of you as well, you know," reminded Namine. She switched the subject. "I'd like to thank you again for thinking about rescuing me. I know you meant well, but it would feel terrible if you got hurt..." She sighed.

Sora sighed as well. "Remless told me it was dangerous, but it feels like I let you down somehow."

"Don't worry about it, it's okay. So..." She leaned closer to him. "What do you think of this place?" She took a moment to glance around the room, a small part of a giant gray stone castle.

"I'd rather be here than at that stupid island," Sora responded with a mix of bitterness and happiness.

_You're so stupid, Sora!_ A sudden voice spoke up in Namine's head, causing her to wince in surprise. _Can't you see--_

_Shut up! _she hissed back, a frown on her face and anger in her gray blue eyes. _I know so much better than you, so you'd better keep quiet!_

_I won't be quiet! You're not me--_

_I don't care if you're the girl next door; you can't persuade me of being me, and those people at Traverse Town are a bunch of liars, just like Sora's so-called 'friends'! _Namine shot back, upset with this voice in her head. It wouldn't go away, and she hoped for it to vanish before her patience snapped.

_Oh, you're one to talk! Look what he got you into, that heartless--_

_Don't you even talk about Remless that way!_ Namine retorted. _You act like you know everything, and if you were sitting in this room right now, I'd strangle you!_

"Is that voice bothering you, Namine?" asked Sora casually, his finger tracing circles on the table in boredom.

"Of course she is!" shouted Namine, surprisingly not making Sora jump. "I wish she'd leave me alone!"

The voice spoke up again. _If you strangled me, you'd have to go too because you're just an invader of my body--_

_SHUT UP! This is _my_ body, not yours, and it won't ever be yours again! You're just a person brainwashed by the liars and luckily Remless found me and told me everything! He did a great thing for me, awakening me to the real world, and you're trying to hang on to the threads of lies, and you say that _I'm_ taking over _your_ body! What a great lie!_

Finally, the voice fell silent. Namine growled and put her head in her hands. "I hate her, I swear it! I don't care if she's me or not, I want her _gone_!" She banged a fist on the table, causing the sketchbook to bounce a bit.

"Thank goodness I don't have that problem, although I do feel for you," said Sora.

"Thanks, Sora. You and Remless are the only ones that can understand me. Everyone else can just die for all I care!"

"You know..." Sora quit drawing circles on the table and put his hands behind his head. "The world would be a better place without all of these liars."

"Agreed." Namine let one hand stop propping her head up to extend it to Sora. He took it without hesitation and they shook hands.

"Say, what's Remless doing?" questioned Namine, switching the subject again.

"I don't know." Sora shrugged. "I don't think we should ask though; he seemed rather secretive if you ask me."

"We should respect his privacy." said Namine. She didn't want Remless to dislike her or Sora in the least; he had saved their lives from ruin.

He nodded in agreement.

* * *

"He's WHAT?"

"Gone," Demyx said quietly.

"Oh goodness, what are we going to do?" Kairi was nearly frantic with worry. "Sora just won't listen to any of us!"

"Mrs. Hikari told me he just disappeared, but..." Riku trailed off for a few seconds before seeming to notice something. "Hey, how do you know that Sora's gone?"

Demyx flinched. Of course this was going to come up. He didn't say anything.

"Come to think of it," Kairi began. "You couldn't have known about Sora in the beginning either because you hadn't seen him for a couple of days or went to the Hikari house!"

Riku's eyes narrowed. "Demyx, are you hiding something from us?"

Demyx raised his hands to defend himself. "Gosh, I don't like everyone ganging up on me." Riku and Kairi didn't move. "But yeah, I do have some things to tell you." He sighed, bracing himself for what was to come. "First, this morning I communicated with the girl Sora dreams about."

Kairi's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Demyx, she doesn't exist--"

He interrupted her, although he didn't really want to. "Sorry, but let me finish. Her name is Namine, and it seems like both she and Sora are being taken over somehow. This guy seems to be telling both of them something that causes someone that looks like them but aren't them--imposters in other words--to emerge. The real Sora and Namine are trapped on a spider web, and if we don't do anything, they'll both be lost to the shadows." Demyx sighed again. "I don't really understand this..."

"Me neither..." Riku stated after a pause, a shocked expression on his face. "I'm not sure if the real Sora knows what's happening to him."

"He doesn't," confirmed Demyx. "According to Namine, Sora fell for the lies quicker than planned, so there's no way he can know what's happened to him."

Kairi finally said, "This seems like some nightmare..."

"I know... I don't know how we can stop this from progressing any further, but Namine warned that it might be too late."

"I don't want to lose Sora!" Kairi cried desperately. "We have to help him!"

"But how?" asked Riku, a look of seriousness on his face.

"I have no idea..." admitted Kairi sadly.

There was silence again before Riku said, "Weren't you going to say something else, Demyx?"

"Yeah..." Demyx didn't really want to continue, but he felt like he had to. "How long have you two known me, as a friend?"

Riku and Kairi thought about it. Demyx knew that it might take time a while, since before this whole Sora incident, they hardly knew him except for an acquaintance.

"Well..." began Riku. "Since Sora started acting weird."

Demyx nodded. '"Exactly. And it's been what? Four days? There's a reason why I started to become friends with both of you." He almost couldn't continue again, but he had to swallow the lump in his throat and said what had to be said.

"I know things that people have never told me, and I think I could see through this whole event."

* * *

Author's Note: Just so you know, I added Jordan because I noticed that I hadn't really thought of Riku's family, but he won't be of any importance to the story. 


	7. Final Nightmares

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 7: Final Nightmares

It was nighttime, and Riku crawled into bed, still wondering over what he and Kairi had found out from Demyx today. Pulling the sheet over himself, he laid back and stared at the ceiling.

_"I know things that people have never told me, and I think I could see through this entire event."_

_Riku was extremely surprised at this revelation, and so was Kairi. "Does that mean you're psychic?" he asked._

_Demyx shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, I can't tell the future or anything." He sighed. "I can't really explain what I have. It's more understandable in examples." He turned to Kairi. "Do you remember the time you first met me, when I washed up here?"_

_Kairi nodded. "Yeah, that fisherman led you to the mayor's house, and my mom gave you a cup of tea."_

_"There's a green vase on top of the fireplace, right?"_

_"There is," she confirmed._

_"That's a replacement," explained Demyx. "There used to be a purple vase there, but a little kid threw a rock through an open window and shattered it. Your mom bought the green one at the craft store."_

_Kairi blinked in surprise. "Wow. And no one told you that?"_

_He shook his head. "I just suddenly knew it. I don't think I've been to the mayor's house but once or twice since I've been here. I never stayed long enough to chat, only to establish my house and to ask me questions about who I was."_

_Riku thought about this new information. Demyx was a strange guy all right. This was like seeing a new side of him, the one who wasn't happy and playing a sitar. It seemed to be serious, and Riku felt a bit sorry for him to keep this ability secret all this time._

_"Demyx, how long have you had this?" Riku questioned._

_"Ever since I've been here, but I couldn't say if I had this ability before." Demyx looked a bit sad for a moment before becoming serious again. "You know, since my memory's gone."_

_"We know," said Riku. "Is there anything else?"_

_"Yeah. I think it was the day Sora first started to change, when he talked to both of you on the beach." Riku and Kairi exchanged glances, for even though Demyx had told him that he could suddenly know things, it still felt strange. "I saw that event in my mind, and it was the same as you experienced it except there was some sort of aura around Sora. It was black and at first it wasn't very strong, but it just grew after he walked away. And there's a catch to knowing things about Sora: I just come down with these awful headaches when I see them. I think that's what separates stuff like the vase and Sora events."_

_"Demyx, maybe you should have told us this before," suggested Kairi, trying to be helpful. "Then maybe we would have a better chance of succeeding in getting Sora and that Namine girl back."_

_Demyx sighed. "I just didn't know for sure if what I knew was about Sora or not. I was just confused about what it meant."_

The conversation had gone on for a moment or two longer before the three split up to go back to their homes. They needed time to digest the information and think about what they could do.

Riku crossed his arms behind his head. He wondered if Demyx could help them out. It seemed likely, but who really knew? At least he knew more about this situation than they did, or maybe had a clue or two different than what he and Kairi had.

Riku was more worried about Sora; he hoped that they would be able to return him to his regular self. What was seen now definately wasn't their friend.

"Hey, little bro, I'm going to bed!" yelled Jordan from his room across from Riku's.

The younger boy winced at his brother's shout, his thoughts interrupted. "Okay!" he called back with much less volume than Jordan's.

Riku resumed looking up at the ceiling, now feeling tired. He rolled over and fell asleep.

* * *

_Riku found himself at the beach where as children, he, Kairi, and Sora had spent so much time just doing something, whether it be frolicking in the surf or building sandcastles. It almost hurt that one of his friends was almost nonexistent._

_The sand scuffed under his feet as Riku walked along the shore, not knowing why. Perhaps he was looking for something._

"_Hey, Riku!" a voice called out from somewhere to his side._

_Riku turned and saw Sora—his friend Sora. He had his hands clasped behind his back, and a grin was on his face, just like it always was._

"_We're going to go see the world, right?" Sora asked. "I wonder if Kairi's home is out there somewhere. Don't you think so?"_

_Riku's heart pained when he realized that this was only a memory of Sora, from before the whole adventure with worlds and hearts and Heartless._

"_Yeah," he responded with a wistful smile. "We'll go find it, the three of us. No matter what." Too bad that didn't happen._

_Sora nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! We'll always be together!" Then his face fell, he turning his attention to the sand. "But how can four people fit on one raft?"_

_Riku blinked. This wasn't how his memory went, and it concerned him. "Four people?" he echoed._

_Sora nodded again. "Namine's coming too. She wants to go explore too, you know."_

_Namine? Why was Sora mentioning her when at the time he didn't even know she existed? Riku thought that maybe this wasn't quite a memory and it made him wary of what could happen. "Oh, yes," he added hastily. "Namine too. Think we should build a bigger raft?" Riku was trying to be as normal as possible; then again, he wasn't quite sure what this was about._

_The brown haired boy thought about this. "I don't know, maybe." Then he looked up and smiled again. "But I hope we can go soon! And I'll even be of more assistance this time!"_

_Riku laughed. "You'd better, or else I'll have to show you punishment for making me do all of the work!"_

_Sora pretended to look scared. "Oh my goodness, Riku's going to kill me!" He burst out laughing, and Riku couldn't help it; he did too. It felt good to laugh, but the person he was having a good time with was almost gone._

_Riku stopped when he felt the air grow colder. The wind chilled him to the bone, and he knew something bad was about to approach. He got his guard up._

_Sora's good humor tapered off in a few seconds, his face beginning to look concerned. "What's the matter, Riku? You look odd."_

_Riku gazed at is friend in disbelief. "Do you feel that cold wind?"_

_He blinked. "No, I don't feel anything, Riku. You must be--" Sora suddenly doubled over in what seemed like pain. He began to shake violently. Riku had a feeling that he knew what was happening, but that still didn't prepare him for what occurred next._

_Sora straightened up, but Riku took a step back, scared of the expression on his face. His friend was the imposter now, and Riku could see startling differences from him and the real person. The imposter Sora had a scowl set into his face, and it was like he didn't know how to smile happily. The real Sora's eyes were like the ocean, but now it was as if the ocean had been caught up in a raging storm; a cold, steely blue that made Riku feel like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on him. This Sora carried himself much differently: he almost seemed to be stiff but ready for attack, unlike the easy-going, loose boy Riku had known. The last thing that he noticed was that this Sora had an angry aura around him._

_Oh, he was so very angry._

_"I told you to stay away from me!" Sora shouted furiously. "Don't you _dare_ step into my life again or else I'll send you to the afterlife!"_

_Riku was stunned. "You would do that?"_

_Sora growled; it was like a mad dog not wanting someone to enter his territory. "Of course I would! I don't care who you are! You're just some boy who's stupider that he looks!" He laughed, and Riku was getting a bit infuriated despite himself._

_He thought of trying to insult the boy standing before him, but that would only make him more ticked off. It was best to keep quiet._

_Sora shot him a menacing glare that almost crackled with hate. "Oh, did I scare him? I'm so sorry." It was obvious that he was mocking Riku, and he gave the silver haired teen a twisted grin._

_Riku again felt his blood run cold. Sora was almost insanely evil and angry, and that was a bad sign on how well the true one was able to control himself. It seemed like the real Sora was far away, and that was a bleak observation._

_He heard an unsheathing of a sword, and Riku was shocked to find that Sora was holding a pitch black sword to his neck. He didn't know where it had come from, but Sora had another one in his free hand. The imposter narrowed his eyes and Riku sickly felt the blade slide across his throat. He wasn't expecting Sora to actually do it, and he didn't want to die! Blood sprayed down his shirt and he heard Sora laughing and he was falling down on the beach where they used to play and now he was dying and his eyes were closing and the imposter was _laughing...

* * *

"AAAAAGGGHHHH!!"

Riku sat up quickly, gasping. He touched his throat and was relieved to find that it wasn't hurt. He sighed; it had been only a dream, but it had been scary enough to cover him in sweat.

"What?" A sleepy Jordan poked his head into the room. "Why did you wake me up?"

Riku didn't answer, and his brother eventually dragged himself back to his room.

It was a few minutes before he could calm down enough to begin to rest again. Riku lay back down again but he kicked the covers off him since he was hot from the sweat. He began to doze off, and he realized how tired he was.

There was a small noise, snapping Riku out of his almost sleeping state. He groaned and sat up, listening for the noise. It sounded like it came from the window.

Riku stood up and rubbed his eyes so he could see in the dark room. He walked to the window, the noise occurring again.

Demyx was throwing small pebbles at the window to get Riku's attention. The silver haired boy opened the window, wondering how on earth Demyx was up at this time.

"Demyx!" he called at a volume that was audible by the musician but not loud enough to wake Jordan again. "What is it?"

"...It's better if you come down here," Demyx replied, not looking up, and Riku noticed that he seemed troubled somehow. He thought back on his friend's ability, and he wondered if he had seen the dream he had.

Riku crept downstairs, careful of not causing any creaks, and put on a pair of sandals to meet Demyx outside of his house.

When he stepped out onto the sand, Riku got a closer look at Demyx. He could have sworn it looked as if he had been crying, but he wasn't sure.

"So, what is it?" Riku asked Demyx.

His friend became silent, and the silver haired young man noticed how tired Demyx was. There were bags under his eyes and it seemed as if he had been crying, confirming Riku's earlier observation.

"Demyx, please talk to me," Riku's voice was gentle since he was worried about his companion.

Demyx didn't reply. He just stared down at the sand.

"Demyx."

Riku heard a mumble but he couldn't figure out what was said. He put a hand on the taller boy's shoulder. "I can't help you if you won't speak to me."

Demyx sniffed again, and tears welled up in his eyes. "I can't take this anymore..." he said finally. "My ability's getting too much for me to handle..."

"What do you mean?"

Tears rolled down his face. "I can't sleep because there's always something keeping me awake, like that nightmare you had or even trying to know something. Why..." Demyx slowly shook his head. "Why does it always cause me pain if it's supposed to help?" He balled up his fists. "I didn't ask for this, you know!" Demyx was quiet for a few moments before he completely broke down, sobbing as if his heart was broken. All Riku could do was try to console him, but deep down he wondered what exactly this ability was.

"Your Majesty! This... this isn't _true_, is it?" a duck clad in blue cried in disbelief.

The mouse standing before him nodded gravely. "I'm afraid it is true, Donald." He shook his head, frowning. "But I don't understand what caused this to happen!" His expression turned to one of sorrow as he stared down at the object clasped in his hand. "Prepare a portal for Destiny Islands immediately!" Donald nodded and hurried off.

King Mickey sighed as Sora's Keyblade glittered dully in his right hand.


	8. The Spider's Web

Gamecrazy's Note: Well, here's the final chap!

Chapter 8: The Spider's Web

Demyx had calmed down, and he seemed to be able to explain to Riku what his nightmare was about.

"It's supposed to show you the three Soras you've seen. One is the boy you remember, the second is the one who hasn't totally been replaced but getting there, and I guess..." Demyx stopped for a moment, a sad expression on his face. "The third Sora is the one he's becoming…" He paused again. "Or he already is…"

"But he doesn't have two black swords, Sora has the Keyblade!" Riku exclaimed. "That part doesn't fit!" He hoped from the bottom of his heart that Sora wasn't lost to them yet. He couldn't see a life without his happy and beaming friend beside him and Kairi on the beach.

"Hey, you two!" a voice called out.

Riku and Demyx turned to see Kairi running down to them in her pajamas and sandals. When she was standing by them, panting, she managed to say between breaths, "Portal... duck... urgent!"

"Duck?" Riku echoed. He blinked. "Donald?"

Demyx looked confused. "What's going on? Who's Donald?"

"Donald is a duck wizard," Riku explained.

The musician's mouth dropped open. "A _duck_?"

"Yes, a duck."

Demyx still couldn't believe it. "A duck, you said."

Riku sighed. "Yes, I said a duck. Now don't say that again."

"But seriously, a duck--"

"We know..." Riku sighed. He looked at Kairi. "Where's the portal located at?"

"Donald made it right outside my house," Kairi grabbed both Riku and Demyx's hand. "We need to hurry, he said!"

The three of them hurried down the beach, and of course they weren't dressed--they just got up--but there wasn't any time to worry about that. They needed to hurry to the portal.

Riku, Kairi, and Demyx arrived in front of the girl's house, and there was a duck clad in blue waiting for them, a staff with a crooked magician's hat on it in his hand. He was tapping his foot on the sand.

"Hey, who's this guy?" snapped Donald--apparently he was in a bad mood--when the trio was in front of him. His staff pointed at Demyx, who still seemed to be in astonishment about the idea of a talking duck.

"Explain later, let's go!" Riku said before he dragged Kairi and Demyx through the portal--Demyx exclaimed, "Where are we going in the first place?"--and Donald sighed and followed suit.

They tumbled through white for a few seconds before landing in a pile on a floor. Poor Demyx was at the bottom, hands held by both Kairi and Riku, and remotely uncomfortable. Needless to say he was confused by the sudden events, and he had no idea where he was or what he was getting led into.

"Up we go, Demyx." With Riku's help the musician got to his feet, but he nearly fell over again when he saw the mouse standing in front of a throne. He cried out in surprise.

"Thank goodness you've arrived!" The mouse said, running up to the three of them--Donald had left. "You see--" He glanced at Demyx. "Who's he?"

"This is our friend Demyx," Riku explained, looking at the mentioned person. "Sorry we dragged you along. We didn't think of how you don't know this place or people."

"It's alright..." Demyx blinked. "Could somebody tell me who these people are?"

The mouse replied, "Alright. I'm King Mickey, and the wizard was Donald Duck. On a--" King Mickey stopped talking for a moment and thought over something. "Oh gosh, you probably don't know about the Keyblade, do you?"

"What?" Demyx's mind buzzed with confusion. He didn't understand this.

"I'll take that as a no. You see, a Keyblade is a weapon that has magical powers and there's a chosen wielder for it. They use it to defeat darkness." The king suddenly looked sad. "That's what Sora was."

"Was?" Riku echoed.

"Yes, was." King Mickey flung out his hand to the side and a yellow handled key with a silver body appeared in it. A keychain with a mouse head dangled from it. Riku gasped at the sight of it.

"Hey..." he began breathlessly. "You said 'was' so..." Riku's eyes widened. "That's mean Sora isn't the Keyblade Master anymore?"

Kairi's hand flew to her mouth, and Demyx just stared blankly.

Mickey shook his head solemnly. "No, I'm afraid not. The Keyblade removed itself from him for some reason, and I called you three here to ask you why this happened."

Demyx swallowed and began to explain although he wasn't educated much on the Keyblade subject. "Well, to put it in the least amount of words as possible, Sora's been corrupted somehow and it developed a second personality that's taking him over. It's happened to a girl named Namine as well."

"Namine... that name sounds familiar." Mickey put a hand on his chin in thought. "Oh, right! I received a missing report from Traverse Town that a girl called Namine just suddenly left. It said that she had some bizarre personality changes and a violent temper."

Riku had recovered from his shock—there was still that surprised air about him though--and said, "That sounds like what happened to Sora."

"Do you know anyone who did this?"

"I say I have the answer!" a pleasant voice rang out.

Riku, Kairi, Demyx, and Mickey glanced about but saw no one. Demyx suddenly clutched his head, crying out in pain.

"What's wrong?" Kairi gazed at her friend with concern.

Demyx didn't reply, but his eyes slid shut and he collapsed. Kairi bent down next to him and tried to wake him up, but it seemed that he was unconscious for now. She hoped he would be alright.

"I say," the voice said again, and they looked about to find a man wearing a black robe lined with purple, long lavender hair, and a black helmet. It was hard to tell if he was smiling in cruelty or mockery or neither. "Your friend doesn't look too well."

"You!" Mickey cried. "What business do you have here?"

"Oh, me?" The man chuckled. "I'm no one special, and I'm not willing to fight--not much of a fighter anyway." He swung his arms in a graceful matter. "I only want you to see certain people." He waved his arm and a portal appeared, and out stepped a blonde girl--most likely Namine--and an all too familiar face.

"Sora," Riku stated, narrowing his eyes.

Sora frowned. "Oh god, not you again!" He turned to the man. "Remless, why did you bring Namine and I here if we were only going to see these stupid people again?"

Remless laughed again. "Now, now, Sora, it's only for a few minutes. I'm sure you can handle it."

Sora growled but resigned. Riku couldn't see their friend in his eyes; he seemed to not exist at all.

King Mickey spoke up. "Who are anyway?"

Remless chuckled. "Ah, you wish to know of me? I don't really care to talk about myself, but why would you want to know?" He gestured to Sora and Namine. "I've brought these two good people here and you just ignore them." He shook his head in what seemed tiredness. "You should be ashamed of yourself, caring only for a mere man when you should speak to dear Sora and Namine." Namine smiled a bit at the comment but Sora fidgeted, obviously wanting to leave.

"If you say so." Mickey held out the Keyblade. "Sora, do you recognize this?"

Sora grumbled and kicked the carpet. He showed no interest of looking at anything.

There was a minute of silence before Mickey shouted, "Answer the question!" Riku and Kairi jumped at the sudden outburst.

Sora snorted. "What? I'm not going to answer." He turned to Remless. "Can we _please_ go home now?" Riku and Kairi exchanged glances; both of them knew that home to this new Sora wasn't at Destiny Islands.

"In a little bit, be patient please." Remless responded.

He growled again but finally replied to Mickey's question. "I've seen that before but why does it matter? It's just a stupid key."

The mouse king nodded gravely and dispersed the weapon in a shower of light. "Now, tell me who the Keyblade Master is."

Again Sora dodged the question but he answered more swiftly this time. "There isn't one, and why does there need to be one anyway? You can't defeat all of the darkness, you know that!"

Riku was bugged by the response of his former friend since he had dabbled too deep within the darkness himself, and he cared to not be reminded of those times.

Mickey nodded again. "Alright then. Now, tell me what exactly you are!"

This time, Namine replied to the question, but her eyes burned with anger and a frown was etched into her face. "What right do you have to call us 'what'?" Her mouth curled into a sick smirk, and Kairi flinched at the intensity of it. "We're people, and if you--a little king with no power--refer to us as things, what would you say if I got your attention by naming you as a simple mouse?"

Mickey was knocked off balance a bit by Namine's harsh comment, but he only frowned.

Namine rolled her eyes. "Oh, how scary that is! I'm just _shaking_ in fear!" She hid her face with her hands and giggled tauntingly. Sora grinned in approval at her behavior. Riku on the other hand was disgusted at it, but now he saw the attraction between Sora and Namine. Something about the two of them together like that--a couple just like he and Kairi--made his skin crawl.

Mickey, unable to contain himself, snapped, "And you're just a rotten girl!"

Riku almost hear the snap of Namine's anger, and the blonde girl removed her hands, revealing a face of pure rage. Gray blue flames were her eyes and her mouth was twisted into a menacing snarl. She was suddenly holding a sketchbook and pencil, and sweeped the writing tool over it, forming a picture of ice crystals completely incasing a room--this very throne room. Riku, Mickey, and Kairi readied themselves, and unfortunately, Sora positioned himself in a battle stance as well. Riku knew that if they were challenged, most likely they would lose, for the three of them had only one weapon between them, Kairi didn't know how to use one, and not to mention Demyx was still unconscious. He gulped, recalling the ebony swords Sora wielded in his nightmare. How would the spiky haired young man use them this time?

Remless gently placed a pale hand on the girl's shoulder, causing her to glance up at him with a bit of anger. "Now, now, Namine, let's not waste anymore time here, okay?" He waved his other hand and made a portal appear. "You too, Sora, you wanted to go home, didn't you?"

It seemed like Sora placed a mask over his face; his change of personality switched that quickly. He relaxed and nodded, giving Namine an impatient look, but not one too intimidating.

Namine huffed and resigned, still holding onto her sketchbook. "Alright, I get the picture..." Then she ripped the drawing, balled it up, and threw it the others, landing next to Demyx's head. She put her belongings away and before stepping into the swirling darkness, shot a glare across the room. Without waiting for a reaction, Namine disappeared, Sora following suit. Remless gave Riku, Kairi, and Mickey a jolly wave as he vanished, the shadows fading.

_A piercing scream rang in his head, causing him to wince. He looked above and with widened eyes, seeing the lavender spider winding his silk around her--the real Namine. She was struggling--wriggling the part of her body that wasn't already encased--but it was hopeless._

_"Demyx!" Namine cried out, inching her face away from the spider's pincers. "This isn't your fault, remember that! Don't take the blame for it! I should because it was hopeless for me and Sora, I knew it from the beginning!" The arachnid crawled above the only thing that wasn't covered: her head._

_"Namine!" Demyx almost couldn't watch this, but his mind wouldn't let him turn away._

_"I have one last thing to tell you!" Her voice was full of fear and determination to get it through to him. "He has two more victims, the man who did this to me! I don't know who one of them is, but the other is down on the ground below you, and there's a hand sticking out of it! They might still be alive and themselves!" The thread was covering her face, almost seeming at eat it. Her eyes were now hidden along with her hair and her nose was about to follow._

_"Namine..."_

_She smiled for the final time, muttering, "Goodbye Demyx..."_

_His mind took this time to swing down to the bottom of the web, thankfully hiding the remaining wraps from view._

_It seemed that there was a cocoon of some kind that had fallen, and some of the silk had come undone. There was indeed a hand hanging out of it, the fingers curled just slightly. The only thing Demyx could see on it was the blue bracelet on the wrist, and it wasn't familiar in the least bit._

_Darkness then hid this vision from sight, and Demyx was almost thankful for it, although a part of him was extremely sorry for the new additions to the web._

To put it as simple as possible, Julia Hikari just wasn't the same after Riku, Kairi, and Demyx related to her the news that Sora was gone for good. She just knitted by the window, not paying attention to much of anything. Destiny was crushed by this--after all, she lost her dear little brother--but resolved to remain strong for both herself and her mother.

The Destiny Islands had lost a precious friend, and it didn't feel right without Sora to Riku and Kairi--their bouncy and happy companion for all of those years. They had been a trio who had plans to see the world, and now they were broken up all over again. Demyx was melancholy too--after all, he could've been the difference in this--but Namine, in her final moments, told him not to blame himself, so he did just that.

Where had Remless taken the imposter Sora and Namine, the place they called home? Riku, Kairi, and Demyx didn't want to know.

Who exactly was Remless, and what did he want? They didn't know that either, and thought that was better left undisturbed.


End file.
